A Telangana State Road Transport Corporation bus plunged into a valley after it skidded off a road, leaving at least 15 passengers dead and 20 others injured in Jagtial district, officials said Tuesday.

The accident occurred when the bus returning from Kondagattu to Jagital skidded off the ghat road near Shanivarapet village and fell into the valley, the officials said. (Twitter/ANI)

In a ghastly tragedy, 40 people were killed and more than 20 others injured when a state-owned bus fell into a gorge in Telangana’s Jagtial district on Tuesday. According to police, the bus belonging to the Telangana State Road Transport Corp (TSRTC) fell off Kondagattu Ghat Road while returning from Anjaneya Swamy temple atop Kondagattu Hills, about 190 km from Hyderabad.

The bus, carrying more than 60 passengers, met with the accident when the driver reportedly lost control at a speed breaker.

The dead include 20 women and seven children. The toll could go up as the condition of some of the injured was stated to be critical. Senior officials rushed to the scene and launched rescue and relief operations.

The injured were shifted to a government-run hospital in Jagtial. A few critically injured were shifted to hospitals in Karimnagar and Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao expressed shock over the accident. He announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia each for the families of the dead.